Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis

Actress, author, podcaster, designer, mother and all round hilarious woman, Amy Huberman joined Alison to discuss her podcast exploring the joys and difficulties in parenting. Aldi's Mamia & Me has real talk, parenting confessions and most importantly - laughs! Amy and Alison had plenty of laughs on the show.

Derry woman Serena Terry, also known as ‘Mammy Banter’ has released her second, eagerly-awaited new book, ‘The Sh!te Before Christmas’ and joined Alison on Sunday's show. Serena shot to fame on Instagram and TikTok, amassing more than two million followers and 35 million views across all platforms. She also made a guest appearance on the final season of "Derry Girls". After the phenomenal success of her first book 'Mammy Banter: The Secret Life of an Uncool Mum' Serena couldn't wait to tell more of Tara's story, and this time we meet her during one of the most chaotic times of the year. Serena and Alison talk about the extreme pressure mammies put on themselves at this time of year, and how Serena wrote this book in just 8 weeks!

We have our Cadbury Soundtown Winner for 2022. Congratulations to Listowel, Co Kerry! In 2022 local spirit has never been more important, and we've been searching for those communities that go the extra mile to spread light and joy. Our judging panel said Listowel fully embodied our SOUND qualities of It has been a difficult year for us all with the hope of returning to ‘normality’ taking a little longer than anticipated. Local spirit has never been more important, and we want to celebrate those communities that go the extra mile to spread light and joy. Soundtown with Alison Curtis is back and ready to hear about the wonderful community spirit in your neighbourhood. And you don’t have to be a sound ’town’ – you could be a sound city, a sound village, a sound collection of locals. We’re looking for communities who live and breathe our SOUND qualities: Selfless, Optimistic, United, Neighbourly, Dependable. Click play to hear their fantastic reaction to winning €10,000 for their town with thanks to Cadbury. HUGE THANKS to all our amazing finalists: Westport Co Mayo, Drogheda Co Louth, Rosscarbery Co Cork, Grange Co Carlow, and Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath

Comedian Emma Doran has just announced her biggest tour to date including a night a Vicar Street on April 21st. Emma joined Alison on Weekend Breakfast to tell her all about it, including the unusual places she gets her comedy inspiration from.

Bryan went viral this week after a video he made about his story was received with HUGE positive responses. Mallow native Bryan O’Keeffe was unhappy with his weight at 23 stone and wanted to change his life for the better — At the end of last year, he moved to the Mallorcan wilderness cutting off communication from family and friends for 7 months so he could get his transformation going. His hard work paid off as he dropped a whopping 10 stone. To celebrate his transformation, he came home to Ireland to surprise his family and friends and released a video. Alison spoke to Bryan on Saturday's show to hear all about it.

Our resident pastry professional Chef Shane Smith joins Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast to share three simple spooky recipes for an extra easy tasty Halloween. All treats and no tricks! Go to chefshanesmith.ie for more

Activist, Speaker, Journalist, Superhero, Dog Enthusiast and most importantly an A-List Cork celeb legend Joanne O'Riordan joined Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast. She is also a proud Ambassador for women's sport in Ireland and although we are in a golden era...how are women in Irish sport being supported? This week she has a documentary called 'A Sporting Chance' that looks at women's sport in Ireland, examining if there a level playing field for females and what more can be done in terms of progress. She explores the potential financial upsides for sponsors and players. It features recent European Championships medal winning boxer Amy Broadhurst and GAA footballer and former Ireland rugby star Hannah Tyrrell. A Sporting Chance airs this coming Thursday the 27th October at 10.15pm on RTE 1

Adam King truly is a national treasure at this stage. Alongside his dad David they have captured the hearts of the world with the 'A Hug For You' campaign that Adam launched back on The Late Late Toy Show. They joined Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast to chat about their brand new book – ‘Sir Adam the Brave and the Moody Monsters'- a fun filled tale all about kindness, inclusion...and monsters! AND it has already been shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards - Junior Children's Book of the Year!

There is a brand-new inclusive Irish TV series for children and families called Dizzie Deliveries, a show told through spoken word and the Lámh sign system for people with intellectual disabilities. Launching on RTÉjr this week Dizzy Deliveries is making history as the first television series in Ireland to use Lámh Signs. To tell Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis all about it and the star of one of the episodes - television’s best-loved chef and one of our favourite people – Donal Skehan The series itself kicks off on RTEjr on 19 Oct which is also National Lámh Day. The Dizzy Deliveries Bakery episode that features Donal will now air on 27 Oct. Visit lamh.org to learn more about the sign system used by children and adults with intellectual disability and communication needs in Ireland

Journalist Jen Hogan wrote a piece this week in 'The Irish Times' about how some behaviours in underage team sports have left families and their children distraught. What happens when winning is more important to coaches than making sure every child has fun? The article shone a light on how some coaches believe winning matches is far more important than including children of all abilities and, importantly, also showed how damaging that attitude can be to those left on the sidelines. The piece got a massive reaction and Jen joined Weekend Breakfast to tell Alison Curtis why it resonated so much and the solutions that can be found. You can follow Jen here on Insta: @jenhoganjourno After broadcast on Weekend Breakfast the show got a huge response from listeners. Here is a selection: Alison, as a coach it is difficult to play someone who is not interested or has the aptitude for the game ahead of someone who does. Leaving can often allow the player the time and focus on an activity that suits them better. Chris (Ennis) Hey Alison. This is what I’ve been doing while listening to your piece. I coach U13 soccer and use an app to make sure I don’t forget who has played and for how long. The app times all my players. I also try to make sure starting subs are different each week. If they don’t get full allocation one game they get it next. Its a really hard balancing act but its about how you approach it and being prepared as much as possible before a match. If parents are onboard with you as a coach then that’s the definition of a team. Child development...The policies are already there, it's some coaches & parents ( not to make light of it) go all D'unbelievables on it!! I agree with everything about equal game time and participation before winning total agree ... but as a coach all I hear is coach bashing… I would ask parents have you offered to volunteer?! Alison my husband left coaching because of the hassle he got from parents. He believed that every child who trained should get a turn playing a match but some of the parents thought it was just about winning and not the players. The best day he had as a coach was when an autistic child who had played for several other teams but never played a match until he moved to our club, scored his first goal. His reaction and that of his family were what team sports should be about. This has been an issue at our club end of season with finals and under 12s been brought up to under 14s. Under 14s not played. Anyway, because parents are speaking up coaches are threatening to leave using the no one is grateful even though the other parents are involved in coaching too I am a coach of 4 underage GAA teams on Dublin & completely agree that inclusion & keeping the kids engaged & happy on training & games is the key to success. One issue not helping is that referees, who are also at the centre of discussion at the moment, are calling fouls that aren't fouls. The kids are asking what they've done wrong more & more & the kids are saying they're fed up with this. Obviously abuse of referees is totally unacceptable, but being able to question them would help all parties....John, dublin